Washboard.



G. (JUNE L A. HORTON.

WASHBOARD.

APPLICATION man DEc.3|,1913.

1,272,776. Patented Ju1y16,1918.

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A WASHBOARD.

APPLICATION FILED DEC- 31.1913.

1,272,776. PatentedJu1y16,191s.

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the board. v

A -further object ofthe invention is to pron vide means whereby the soap may be-forced` the following description.

invention.

GER'IRUDE CLINE` AND AARON rion'roN, or coLniviaN, MICHIGAN; SAID CLIN AssIGNoR or ONE-THIRD To SAID HontroN.

WASHBOARD.

10 particularly to that Class, of wash-boards wherein means areprovided for lsupporting a bar er bars of soap in position at the upper end of vrthe wash-boarden that theclothes may be rubbed against the soap rather than i5 the ,soap rubbed against the clothes.

.The primary object of our invention -is the provision lof a very simple and easily operated structure of-this Icharacter adapted to support at the upper end of the wash- A 20 board one or more cakes vor bars of soap and having.' means whereby the soap may bey forced outw-ard as used. Y f

- A further object of the linvention is to so construct the wash-board that the soap may 25 be readily inserted in place, may be supported firmly against displacement and that provision may be made for proper drainage of water from .the soap.

A further object of theinvention is the 30 provision of means whereby a cake or cakes of soapy may be Yfed forward by hand or automatically against the supporting wires or bars and thus projected into position to engage the clothes as theyare rubbed upon outward to any desired vdegree in order to increase the projection of the-cakes of soap. Still another obj ect is to so. form the means for feeding or projecting the soap that it will operate equally well whether one or more cakes or bars are used. A

Other objects will appear in the course of Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a washboard constructed in accordance with lour Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section through the upper end of the wash-board Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 1918.

(Application led December 31, 1913. Serial No. 809,788..

showing the soap retaining and feedingV means.

Fig. 3 is a transverse. section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a face view of another form of our invention.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section therethrough on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4f.

Fig. G is a transverse section on the line 6--6 of Fig. 5.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring'now particularly to Figs. vl, 2 and 3, 2 designates the wash-board generally, which may be formed in any suitable manner, but as shown, comprises the side mem-4 bers B connected by a transverse brace l and a head-board 5. Extending between the members 3 throughout the greater portion of the Wash-board is the corrugated rubbingplate- 6, this rubbing plate 6 extending up to the brace fl and abovethe brace Ll and ex` tending between the side-members -3 isthe.

transversely vextending` fiat plate, preferably of metal and designated?. The upper end of this. flat plate 7 extends into a kerf 8 formed in the head-.board 5. This ,flat plate 7 extends entirely across the board as shown in Fig. l and is formed at its middle with a transversely extending opening 9 having a length nearly equal to the width of the board and a width equal to the width of a bar or bars of soap. The lower edge of the plate 7 does not extend to the corrugated metal plate 6 or to the brace 4, but a space l() is left,V

forming a drain opening.

Mounted upon the rear of the wash-board rearward of the plate 7 is the housing l1. This is formed with a rear portion 12 which extends approximately parallel tothe plate 7 and with a downwardly and forwardly extending bottom 1 3 which is preferably disposed at an angle of about Lland which may or may not be continuous with the sheet metal or corrugated plate 6. The sides of the housing ll are attached to the side members 3 in any suitable manner as by bolts, screws or nails 14. The hinged cover yl5 closes the upper portion of the housing ll, this cover beinghingedat 16 to the plate 12and at its upper end closes against a lip 17 projecting from theunder side ofthe head-board 5. A latch 18 or other suitable device of this character is mounted upon the rear edge of the headboard and engages over the free end of the hinged' cover 15 to hold it closed. As will be seen in Fig. 2 the plate 7 is formed with a rearwardly extending ledge or ange 19 which defines the lower wall of the opening 9. Mounted upon the plate 7 and extending transversely across the opening 9 are a plurality of soap retaining wires or bars 20.A The vertical portions of Yeach wire or retaining member 2O isA disposed parallel to the plate 7 and each wire is formed Vat vitslower end withla horizontal rearwardly extending portion 21 which rests upon and is supported upon the ledge 19, the rear end of the horizontal portion being downwardly bent as at 22 and inserted in a corresponding'opening formed for it in the ledge or flange 19. The upper end of each Y rod or wire is inwardly bent atv 23 then upwardly extended and outwardly bent as at 24 andthis projecting end i's inserted in' a corresponding opening formed in the plate 7. As these membersfare preferably constructed of resilient wire they may be independently assembled in position by inserting the lower endsv 22 in the perforations in the ledge 19 and then inserting their acentral perforation or recess for vthe upper ends y24 inthe perforations in the plate 7 .Y The lower long horizontal arm 21 under these circumstances actsas a base and the resilience of the vertical portion of the member 20 will cause the upper end thereof tobe forcibly projected into the openings of the plate 7. Under these circumstances the rods, wires or bars 2() cannot turn laterally. The cake or bar of soap 25, or a` plurality of cakes or bars, as the case may be, are positioned upon: thehorizontal portions 21 of the members 20, and are resiliently held between these portions and the horizontal portions 23 of the members 20. It is to be noted atk this point that the portions 21 of the members 2O support the cake of soap above the upper face of the ledge 19 and thereby permit any water to drain ofi' the soap and from the ledge.

. Y Disposed rearward and against the Vcakes of soap is a follower-plate 26. This plate has a length equal to the length of the opening-9 andv is disposed vertically within the housing 12. Formed or mounted upon the rearface of the plate 26 isa boss'27 having ception ofthe inner end of a screw-rod 2S which extends out through a central opening in the rear plate 12 of the housing 11. Surroundingthis'screw-threaded rod 28 is a sleeve 29 which has screw-threaded engagement with the rod 28 but its outer face is smooth. 'The outer end of the sleeve supports a handwheel 30 while the-inner end and projects outward beyond the plate 12 Yto thereby provide a firm bearing sliding sleeve 29.

Disposed within the housing 11 is acoil-Q spring 84, one end of which bears against.

the member 27 while the other endbears against the ange-S?) of the bushing-'32.-vA

In use, one or more cakes yof .soapr are placed in the openingv 8 restingupon the Yinwardly extending' legs 21 of the retaining vfor the Y members 20,. the soap being easil'yput'in place byV inserting the "'soap throughv the opening normally closed by the door 15, the head or plate 26 being moved rearwardly wherebyto permit the soap to be disposed 1n place againstthe bars or rods 20.V After i the soap is in place the handle 30'isreleased, thus permitting the spring 34 to'- force the follower 26 against the soap.V Where the soap is relatively soft the 'spring 34 will exert suliicient pressure to so force the soap against the bars as 'to cause the soap Yto be cut by the bars and feed therethrough. Where, however, the soap is hard it is neces# sary to first force the soap forward by turning the wheelV 30 untilV the bars 20 have inil tially cut into the soap and then'as the soap is used the water will soften vthe---soap Vto acertain extent which will permit the spring 34 to gradually Afeed thesoap outward,V thus effecting an automatic feed-of soap as it becomes worn away during use. It is to'lbe noted here, that as the sleeve 29 has sliding engagement with the bushing 32 the sleeve and hand-wheel willmove inward with the that if at any time it is desired to forcibly feed the soap outward, if the automatic feed does not work properly, then it is onlyrnecessary to turn the hand-wheel to aV slight yinward movement ofthe follower 26 and amount. Ifthe action of the spring'grows weaker, to such an'extent thatthe soap will not feed properly and "automatically, then the hand-wheel may bexus'ed from .time tol time to force the soap outward. lnasmuch as the soap is held firmly by the retaining;

wires and against the follower-plate'it mayv be Vused until a very ythinv remainder of the cake is left. y l

lin Figs. "4, 5 and 6 we show another 'and simpler form of our mechanism, and what we believe to be a preferable form in many respects. The wash-board itself is constructedfin the same manner as previously described, with side-bars 2 and a head-board 5,a transverse brace 4 and a corrugated metal rubbing portion 6. It is likewise provided with a p1ate'35 which is of theV same nearly to the corrugated character kas the plate 7, heretofore described, but not of the same detail construction. This plate is approximately iush with the rubbing portion 6 of the board and is formed with an opening 36 extending transversely across it nearly the entire width ofthe board between the members 2. The plate 35 at the upper wall of the opening 36 is reinforced by turning the plate over a transversely extending wire or rod 37. T he plate 35 below the opening L36 extends downward portion ,6 sofas to leave a transversely extending space or slot 37 ,for drainage purposes. The lower wallof the opening 36 is formed with an inwardly extending ledge 38. The housing 39 has approximately the same kform as that illustrated in Fig. 2 and is made of sheet metal and preferably continuous with the sheet metal or corrugated portion 6. The upper end of this housing is `upwardly yinclined as at 40 and then extends underneath and against the under surface of the head-board 5. It is then folded to provide a bead 41 which extends into a kerf 32 formed in this head-board. Preferably the plate 35 is continuous with the housing, as illustrated in Fig. 5 and thus the whole metallic portion of the board may be formed from kone piece of sheet metal. This we regard as having important advantages over the construction shown in Fig. 2. The upwardly and forwardly extending portion 40 of the housing is formed with an opening 43 closed by a removable lid or cover 44, this opening being large enough to permit the introduction of soap into the housing and its proper disposition upon the soap receiving bars. Preferably the metal which is cut away to form the opening 36 in the plate 35 is bent rearward to form the shelf or ledge 38 and is then folded downward as at 45 and soldered or otherwise attached to the upwardly inclined bottom wall of the housing 39. This portion-45 of the ledge or iange 38 is perforated or cut away at a plurality of points to form drainage openings whereby any water which may pass from the 'soap or which will pass into the opening 36 may draindownward along the bottom wall of the housing and out through Vthe slot 37.

Extending across the opening 36 are a plurality of soap retaining rods, bars, or wires 46'. -These extend vertically and at their upper ends are inw-ardly bent as at 47 and the extremity of this inwardly bent portion is bent around or otherwise connected to the rod 37. Thev lower endsof the wires or rods 46 are inwardly bent as at 48 and are soldered or otherwise connected to the ledge 38 so'as to lie flat thereon.

Mounted within ran opening in the rear wall of the housing 39 is a thimble 49 having its base formed with a fiange 50 which bears against the rear wall of the housing,

the body of the thimble extending out through the aperture of the housing and projecting rearward relatively a considerable distance. Passing through this thimble is a screw-threaded rod 51 which is smaller in diameter than the thimble and does not engage therewith, this rod being preferably of such length that it extends to a plate located in the series of vertical rods or wires 46. The extremity of the rod is formed with a socket 52 to receive a pin 53 projecting inward from a vertical bar or rod 54 which is disposed at the middle of the opening 36 and which is attached to the plate 35 in the same manner as are the wires or rods 46.

Mounted upon the screw-threaded rod 51 and engaging the screw threads thereof is a nut 55 having a relatively long bear-ing upon the rod k51 and having flanges bearing against a follower-.plate 56 which extends transversely nearly vthe full length o f the housing and which is adapted to bear against the cakes of soap 57, as will be seen clearly rin Fig. 6. The rear end of the screw-threaded rod 51 carries a hand-wheel 58 and mounted upon the rod in any suitable manner is a collar 59 which is keyed to the screw.

It will be seen'that the feed-screw 51 is rigidly supported at both ends and that when rotated by the hand-wheel 58 it will carry the nut 55 back and forth, depending upon the direction of rotation of the handwheel. 1t will also be noted that the rear end of the nut 55 when fully retracted by the feed screw enters the inner end of the thimble 49. This allows a relatively long nut to be used in a relatively small space, the object being to secure a firm bearing for the nut upon the screwfthreaded rod.

A brace-rod 60 is disposed directly above the screw in line with the screw-threaded rod 51 so as to pass between the bars or cakes of soap and acts to prevent the rear wall of the housing 39 and the front `wall of the housing formed by the plate 35 fromV springing farther apart when the force of the screw is used to feed forward very hard soap.

1t will be noted that in the operation of the device all that is necessary to place the soap in position is to turn the hand-wheel 58 back, thus retracting the follower 56 sufficiently to permit the soap to be dropped in from the top, then the hand-wheel is turned in a reverse direction forcing the follower against the soap. The soap may then be forced forward until the wire or rods 46 embed themselves slightly in the soap. This will leave the full face of the soap exposed vto the clothes when rubbed over it and as the soapwears away it may be fed forward by a slight turn of the hand-wheel 58.

As' illustrated, only two bars of soap 57 are shown, but the number of bars used will, of course, depend on the size of the to washing clothes.

cakes or bars, and as the follower plate is rigidly carriedby the nut 55 it will act equally well where one bar of soap is used disposed on yone side only of the washboard.

It will be seen that ourinvention is siinple, easily operated, may be cheaply manufactured and results in a great econoiny'in the soap used. 'i

The soap is firmly supported sorthat it cannot get out of place even when worn down to a very thin layer and the device is such'as to greatly reduce the labor vincident What we claim is:

l. A washboard including a rubbing plate having a soap exposing opening, means for supporting a cake of soap in said openino', a follower, a screw engaging the follower and operable to positively and forcibly feed the soap against said supporting means and Copies of this patent Vmay be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Washington, D. G.

through said opening, andv aspring engaging said follower to automatically feed the soap independently of thescrew; Y

2. A washboard including a rubbing plate having a soap exposing opening, means for supporting a cake of soap in said opening, a follower disposed behind the opening, a screw `threaded rod connected to the follower, a screw threaded sleeve engaging the rod7 an operative support for thesleeve and through which the vsleeve is slidable,and a sorin en aO'inO' saidsu port and bearino' against the, follower. -1

In testimony whereofwe affix our signa-V tures in presence of two witnesses.

C. H. NIGGEMAN.

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